Posted by Roland Cannon on September 17, 1999 at 09:42:29:
I know there are a lot of us using "The Pump". I decided to take mine apart yesturday. Airgun letter had a little article on this in
their July 98 issue, which also happens to be the ten meter pistol issue. I was shocked!! There was a lot of trapped moisture in
the lower area. The little bb sized silver balls were very pitted and corroded. I soaked them in vinegar and that did a decent job
of getting them clean. There was also quite a bit of pitting in the lower section of the pump body. Most of that cleaned up rather
well. I lubed the balls before putting them back in. I used Dow Corning 111. It is a silicon based food grade lubricant. The
pump now works better than new. I was glad to see the moisture in the pump. It is better than having it go into the tanks. I have
probably filled 40-50 tanks on my Steyr pistol with the pump. I live in Salt Lake City, UT which is considered the desert.
Humidity is almost always very low. Have any of you ever took the pump apart to clean it? I wonder how much worse it might
look inside if used in a high humidity environment?
Posted by ET on September 17, 1999 at 23:12:10:
Dear Roland,
First I want to point out that I live in S.E. Asia and humidity is always high in the region.
We use the pump mostly to fill the tanks up to 200 bar plus as it is difficult for the scuba tank to get such high preasure.
Our pumps have a small hole in the side which is designed for water moisture to leak from inside.
After sometime there is always traces of liquid in white/grey color. Presumably it is a misture of the lubricant and water moisture.
We are more concerned on mositure inside the air cylinder and someone advised us that after 20 - 30 refills, it is wiseable to
discharge all the air inside the cylinder as a precaution.
Posted by Roland on September 18, 1999 at 09:52:49:
ET, do you think this moisture inside the pump will shorten it' slifespan? Could it eventually make it inside the cylinders? Thanks!
Posted by ET on September 20, 1999 at 06:07:28
Dear Roland,
I am not a physicist and I cannot give you a sophiscated answer. However, my opinion is since air is still air, either compress or
normal, contains mositure. Sooner or later ther will be build up either inside the cylinder or the pump. I beleive the frequency of
cleaning greatly depands on the climate in your territory.
For my own concern, I put more attention on the cylinder because it is a bit troublsome to disasmble the pump. Some more
experienced shooters told me that it is also a good practise to loosen the cylinder from the frame in order to preserve those high
preasure O-rings both inside the cylinder and the pistol. Anyway, I just follow these steps since there is nothing harm.
However, I have some spare O-rings so some time in the furture, I have to clean inside the pump when I have to change them.
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